- Bookings open ahead of 23 October launch. Might be priced between Rs 3.87-5.20 lakhs.

The most anticipated and important launch this festive season is the new Hyundai Santro. Prices for the resurrected iconic hatchback will be announced on 23 October. Bookings have already commenced for Rs 11,000 and Hyundai promises special benefits for the first 50,000 customers. We have already seen the new Santro in the Asta trim and also the leaked pricing gave us details about the variants. Now new pictures from dealer’s stockyard give us a better look at the new hatchback in Marina Blue body paint.

The Marina Blue paint scheme is the same one that was first seen on the Elantra and Elite i20. It makes the new Santro appear more upmarket and better looking. The contrasting black fascia with cascading grille also gels well with the blue paint. Also, the body creases look more prominent in the new paint shade compared to the white car seen earlier. There are no alloy-wheels seen on this model either, but the hatchback does get body-coloured ORVMs with integrated indicators, body-coloured door handles and rear window wiper. There is a rear-view camera placed just beneath the Hyundai logo on the tailgate and two parking sensors are seen on the bumpers.

The Santro will come with many first-in-class features. For example, the cabin will get a nicely integrated seven-inch touchscreen between the large air-con vents on the centre console. The new infotainment system will be compatible with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and Mirror Link with voice recognition, phone connectivity, and rear parking camera display. There will be AC vents for the rear passengers as well. The circular air-con vents appear to have been taken out of a far more expensive vehicle. However, the re-circulation slider below it seems out of date now. The instrument cluster has speedometer and tachometer along with a digital screen which can read out essential information such as fuel indicator, trip meter and gear-shift indicator. Interestingly, the window control switches are placed behind the gear lever.

The new Santro will be launched in nine variants across seven colour options. There will be seven petrol-powered trims and two CNG powered versions as well. Powering it will be Hyundai’s 1.1-litre four-cylinder petrol engine developing 68bhp of power and 101Nm of torque. Besides a five-speed manual, there will also be an AMT gearbox option which will be a first for Hyundai. Hyundai will also offer a factory-fitted CNG kit with a 58bhp version of the same 1.1-litre motor.

The leaked price-list sets the price tag for the entry-level Santro at Rs 3.87 lakhs, ex-showroom, which goes all the way to Rs 5.20 lakhs for the top-spec Sportz AMT trim. It will rival against the likes of Tata Tiago, Maruti Suzuki Celerio and the Wagon R, apart from the Datsun Redigo and Renault Kwid.